Once More, But This Time - Forget Me, Sweetheart
by Rasiaa
Summary: The fan went around and around and around. Katie wound up being right. Ginny never did remember.


_For AlwaysPadfoot for the monthly one shot thing on hpfc_

* * *

The fan went around and around and around.

Ginny stared at it, fascinated. She blinked, and it broke the spell.

The glass window began to reflect the rising sun, and she turned her gaze to the rainbow it produced as it meshed with the raindrops. It had rained last night. It kept her awake.

Awake and dizzy and all kinds of hungry because she hadn't actually eaten. Absently, she wondered if she'd been forgotten before she remembered fighting the handlers.

Nurses. Doctors. Whatever they were called. She can't remember.

She figured it didn't matter at all anyway. They came and they went and that was all she knew.

Their names escaped her, too.

But one name stayed. Always.

With that in mind, she sat up, swaying slightly and they black spots in front of her vision distracted her before she remembered. Her memory was broken. She - of course - couldn't remember why.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, too fast, too fast, since the black spots made a reappearance. She giggled, delighted.

Then she started walking, shivering as her bare feet touched the tiles. The jacket kept her shoulders warm though, so it didn't really matter.

She pressed her face to the window on the door, looking out into the hallway.

Nothing. No people at all, no noise that she could hear. Her eyes flickered to the camera in her room. "Come get me," she said, loudly, and winced as the sound of her own voice echoed back at her.

She knew they'd come. They always did.

Sure enough, she saw a young nurse come down the hall, his white shoes and white uniform and white white white hair and skin stirring her irritation. He saw her at the window and waved his hand, a smile on his face. She frowned at him and the smile slipped.

"What can I help you with, Ginny?" he asked, unlocking the door. She scrambled back, watching him closely as he stepped into the room.

"Where's Katie?" she demanded, and his smile slipped even further. "I want to see her. Now."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Ginny," he said, tone apologetic, but it was fake. Like everything.

She lunged forward, teeth bared, and he reacted slowly enough that she managed to bite him before he hit her with the tazer.

…

She woke in another room, and rolled her eyes. The white room. Of course.

"Where's Katie?" she screamed, uncaring that her arms were free and that she had pants instead of a dress for the first time in ages. "I want to see Katie!"

There was a knock on the door.

Her eyes flickered over to it, and she scrambled closer, on her knees.

"Katie?"

The door edged open, and for once, it wasn't a nurse in a white uniform. She looked up, and her face lit up in a smile. "Katie!"

The woman smiled at her, sitting across from her, arranging her skirt around her legs. "Hello, Ginny," she murmured, eyes gentle, but sad.

Ginny didn't know why.

"You're sad," she said plainly, and Katie's eyes darkened even further.

"Yes, sweetheart," she said. "Do you know why?"

Ginny shook her head. Katie breathed a laugh, her eyes lowered, but it wasn't a happy one.

"I stopped working here three years ago, Ginny. Don't you remember?"

She didn't. She didn't. She didn't. God help her, she didn't.

"You need to stop asking for me," Katie continued, looking away. "I'm going home. I can't stay here, in England. I'm going back to Scotland."

She didn't know what that meant.

Katie looked at her then, and her heartbreak was clear. She leaned forward, and this was the one thing Ginny would always remember: how to kiss Katie.

She met her in the middle, reaching up to cup her face, feeling the wetness on her fingertips. She didn't know what that meant, either, so she ignored it and kept kissing her.

Katie pulled back, but kept her forehead pressed against Ginny's. "I know you'll likely forget me soon enough, sweetheart, but you have to know that I'll never, ever, forget you."

Forget?

"You know I'll love you always, right?"

Katie kept speaking, but the words were lost on Ginny.

Katie eventually pressed another kiss to her lips and then her temple before standing.

Ginny grabbed her flowery skirt with a gasp, eyes wide. "Katie," she breathed, and she leaned down and untangled Ginny's fingers.

The click of the door haunted her, but after a year of no visits, Katie wound up being right.

Ginny never did remember.


End file.
